Massa on Bush: The emperor is naked’

Retired Gen. John Batiste and Democratic congressional hopeful Eric Massa talk about the Iraq war with constituents of New York’s 29th District.

Bryan Roth

Gen. David Petraeus gave his status report on Iraq last week, and retired Gen. John Batiste and Congressional hopeful Eric Massa don’t buy into what was told recently to Congress.

In his address, Petraeus refused to set a timetable for ending the war, but he said some troops could come home this year.

A poll released by the Pew Research Center on Sept. 18 shows that 41 percent of 1,501 interviewed adults felt that the military effort in Iraq is going well, compared to 36 percent in July. But Batiste, who led the Army’s 1st Infantry Division in Iraq, said the situation in Iraq is bad and could instantly turn into strategic defeat.

In addition to his time in Iraq, Batiste also acted as a military aide to former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.

“(American citizens) need to understand that the military alone will never solve the problem in Iraq,” said Batiste, who works for Klein Steel in Rochester. “Rather, we need the United States government with a regional strategy firing on all cylinders.”

In an effort to speak out against the war and support Massa’s campaign against Rep. Randy Kuhl, R-Hammondsport, for the 29th District, the two men held a fundraiser Sept. 18 in Pittsford at the home of Beth and Josh Bruner.

Massa, a Democrat, lives in Corning.

Meeting with almost 100 people, Beth Bruner said she was impressed with meeting Batiste and Massa for the first time.

“(Gen. Batiste) had what I call a real sense of gravitas,” she said. “He could explain our questions about policy and what’s gone so very wrong with our policy.”

Massa served as a U.S. Navy commander. He said the country is in a Catch-22 in Iraq because the Iraqi government doesn’t want U.S. troops to leave, but the Iraqi people don’t want an occupying force. He takes issue with benchmarks set forth by U.S. lawmakers, which include things like passing laws to share oil revenue, organizing provincial elections and allowing more members of the Baath party that ruled under Saddam Hussein to hold public-sector jobs.

“I think that most people that listen to the president saying, 'We're making progress,' scratch their heads and don't quite understand what planet he's on,” Massa said. “We who live in this country have a good foundation of common sense, and when the emperor has no clothes, we're usually able to call him on it.

"Right now, the emperor is naked. And the only people who don't seem to realize it are those in the White House.”

Kuhl said recently the recommendations by Petraeus “represented the most accurate, credible and up-to-date assessment of the security and political realities in Iraq.” But, he said he wanted to wait to see the results of the benchmarks before making further comments about the war.

Even with the White House declaring advancements are being made in Iraq, Batiste isn’t so sure. He said he doesn’t know if there is a way for the U.S. to militarily or politically succeed in the war-torn country, but it certainly also needs a diplomatic aspect to it.

“I do know that our military is in trouble,” he said. “It's at a breaking point because our great Army and Marine Corps have been gutted to field the 25 brigades that are in Iraq today, and we can't continue this for much longer.”

Fast Facts:

What the polls say
Here are some of the results from a poll by the Pew Research Center following Gen. David Petraeus’ report to Congress: